The present invention generally relates to one or more electronic systems for vehicle inspection-related information logging, analysis, and communications. More specifically, various embodiments of the present invention relate to real-time remote monitoring of vehicle maintenance needs analysis and vehicle sensor-based automated vehicle inspection reporting communications among vehicle-sharing commercial drivers and a commercial fleet auto mechanic for regulatory compliance of commercial vehicles. Furthermore, various embodiments of the present invention also relate to vehicle electronic logging authorization and handover systems associated with federal, national, state, or local commercial vehicle safety requirements and regulatory compliance.
Commercial vehicle drivers, such as truck and bus drivers, are increasingly regulated and required by state, federal, national, and/or municipal governments to conduct mandatory vehicle condition inspections and generate related reports between active driving operations. For example, in the United States, a commercial vehicle driver may be required to record the initial condition of a commercial vehicle before driving and the subsequent condition of the commercial vehicle after an extended driving activity. Moreover, in certain states and municipalities, commercial vehicles are legally required to undergo routine maintenance after operating a certain number of miles or after elapsing a certain number of days since the last routine maintenance. An auto mechanic who is designated to perform routine or on-demand maintenance of the commercial vehicle may also be required to access and update the driver-generated vehicle inspection information to keep the commercial vehicle in good and safe working conditions, as required by law and/or by company policies.
Furthermore, commercial vehicle drivers are also increasingly regulated and required by governments to record their driving activities and rest periods. For example, a commercial vehicle driver may be required to take a mandatory thirty-minute break after eight hours of consecutive driving or active on-duty tasks associated with the commercial vehicle (i.e. “30-minute required break per consecutive 8-hour drive”). The commercial vehicle driver may also be required to abide by other mandatory rest requirements, such as a consecutive rest period of thirty-four hours for every non-consecutive sixty hours of active on-duty driving per week (i.e. “60-hour cycle limit”), or a consecutive rest period of ten hours, including eight hours of sleep, for every non-consecutive eleven hours of active on-duty driving (i.e. “11-hour driving limit”). A regulatory violation intentionally or inadvertently caused by a commercial vehicle driver may result in stiff penalties or fines to both the commercial vehicle driver and a related vehicle fleet operator.
In the past, the regulatory compliance for mandatory driver rest periods and vehicle maintenance for commercial vehicle operations was primarily satisfied by recording driver logs on paper (i.e. in form of “vehicle driver log” documents). In recent years, electronic driver activity-logging devices have further assisted commercial vehicle drivers to enter or verify their active driving or resting statuses in electronically-generated driver activity logs. The electronically-generated driver activity logs are typically designed to be periodically audited and reviewed by regulatory authorities and/or fleet operation managers to improve traffic safety and to provide legal compliance. In many cases, the electronically-generated driver activity logs are configured to be tamperproof or “locked” from further adjustments by relevant commercial vehicle driver(s) after a set amount of time (e.g. 12 hours, 24 hours, etc.) has elapsed from the actual time of data recording. The time elapse-triggered “locking” of the electronically-generated driver activity logs is intended to preserve the integrity of the driver activity logs for more robust regulatory compliance associated with mandatory commercial driver resting requirements.
However, conventional paper-based or electronically-generated driver activity logs do not address specialized circumstances in which a multiple number of commercial vehicle drivers share a commercial vehicle for a variety of on-duty driving operations on various time frames (e.g. hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). For example, it is difficult to generate and maintain accurate and reliable driver activity and driver-generated vehicle inspection logs for a multiple number of commercial vehicle drivers who time-share a commercial vehicle, especially if those time-sharing commercial vehicle drivers also need to routinely communicate with designated auto mechanics to follow up on the driver-generated vehicle inspection logs for any needed repairs or maintenance items.
Therefore, it may be desirable to devise a novel commercial driver vehicle inspection and driver log-tracking communication system that seamlessly provides log tracking and related multi-party communications among vehicle time-sharing drivers, auto mechanics, fleet managers, and regulatory compliance authorities. Furthermore, it may also be desirable to devise a dynamically-adaptable intelligent voice assistant that is incorporated into the novel commercial driver vehicle inspection and driver log-tracking communication system to guide time-sharing drivers and auto mechanics through a series of steps for initiating and updating vehicle inspection and maintenance logs using voice assistance in their native languages. In addition, it may also be desirable to devise a novel method for operating the novel commercial driver vehicle inspection and driver log-tracking communication system for multi-party utilization.